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QUETTA, Oct 1: Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, president of the National Party, which boycotted the polls in 2008, announced on Monday that his party would take part in the coming elections.

Addressing a press conference, he said the NP is a progressive nationalist party which believes in the democratic process and constitutional struggle to achieve rights.

Dr Baloch said all people living in Balochistan should have equal rights irrespective of their ethnic affiliations.

Welcoming Sher Zaman Kakar, a leader of the Loralai district’s Awami Action Committee, to the National Party, Dr Baloch expressed the hope that Mr Kakar’s decision would strengthen the NP.

He said that 88 per cent population of Balochistan was living below the poverty line and it was the NP’s aim to ensure that every citizen got basic amenities of life.

He claimed that even those people who were living in the provincial capital did not have the basic necessities of life, adding his party was struggling for the development of all areas in the province.

The volatile situation in Balochistan is the result of wrong policies made by dictatorial regimes, Dr Baloch said, adding the democratic government had also failed to contain the incidents of target killing and kidnapping for ransom.

Dr Baloch refused to comment on the six-point charter presented recently by Balochistan National Party-Mengal chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal in order to resolve the Balochistan issue.